NJ To Begin Mailing Homestead Property Tax Relief Applications

TRENTON — The New Jersey Division of Taxation will begin mailing Homestead Benefit applications today. Approximately 1.6 million New Jersey households will receive application packets over the next three weeks.

Under Gov. Chris Christie’s administration, New Jersey provides property tax relief to qualified homeowners through credits on their local property tax bills. Homeowners who meet the eligibility requirements this year will receive a credit for property taxes they paid in 2011. Under previous administrations, the program mailed out rebate checks.

New Jersey residents who owned a principal residence on October 1, 2011, and paid property taxes on that home, will be eligible to receive the Homestead Benefit if they reported $75,000 or less in New Jersey gross income for 2011 — or, if they are disabled or age 65 or older, had 2011 gross income of $150,000 or less. The deadline for all homeowners to file is June 30, 2012.

For more information on the Homestead Benefit Program, homeowners may call the Division of Taxation’s Homestead Benefit Hotline at 1-888-238-1233 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Homestead benefit information is also available on the Division’s Web site at www.state.nj.us/treasury/taxation/homestead/geninf.shtml and through its Automated Tax Information System at 1-800-323-4400. Text telephone service for the hearing impaired is provided at 1-800-286-6613 or 1-609-984-7300.

Homeowners are urged to read the instructions and complete the worksheet in the application packet before attempting to file. Anyone who has sold recently or is preparing to sell their home should read the instructions carefully to avoid missing out on the Homestead benefit.

Homestead Benefit applications for 2011 are scheduled for delivery to homeowners as follows:

Gloucester, Mercer, Middlesex, Passaic counties: May 3

Cape May, Union counties: May 5

Atlantic, Essex, Monmouth, Sussex counties: May 8

Morris, Ocean counties: May 10

Camden, Hudson, Hunterdon, Salem, Somerset counties: May 12

Bergen, Burlington, Cumberland, Warren counties: May 15

Because it may take the U.S. Postal Service several days to deliver applications, not every homeowner will receive an application on the day delivery is expected to begin. Homeowners are asked to wait at least a week following the expected delivery date for their county before calling the Division of Taxation to check on a missing application.

Homeowners who filed their 2010 Homestead Benefit applications online and indicated that they wanted to receive this year’s application electronically will be sent an e-mail containing instructions for downloading their 2011 application packet. The Division of Taxation will send out these e-mail messages by county according to the delivery schedule for the printed packets.

The Homestead Benefit Program is different from the Senior Freeze (Property Tax Reimbursement) Program. They are separate property tax relief programs with different eligibility requirements, different applications, and different filing schedules.

Senior Freeze applications were mailed in February and the deadline for filing 2011 applications is June 1, 2012. For information about the Senior Freeze Program, or to obtain an application, contact the Property Tax Reimbursement Hotline at 1-800-882-6597 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays. Information is also available on the Division of Taxation’s Web site at www.state.nj.us/treasury/taxation/ptr/buffer.shtml